Hey everyone,
I recently built a new gaming PC with these specs:
- Motherboard: B550M Pro-VDH WiFi
- CPU: Ryzen 5 5500
- GPU: ASRock RX 6600
- PSU: MSI MAG A650BN
- RAM: Kingston Fury DDR4 (2x8 GB)
Everything was running smoothly until about two weeks ago when my PC started freezing while playing games. This issue kicked off while I was playing Fortnite (but I'm not sure if that's relevant). Now, games like Valorant, CS2, and Cyberpunk 2077 are all freezing intermittently.
The freezes happen randomly—sometimes right after starting a game and other times after I've been playing for a while. When it occurs, the whole system locks up, and I have to force a reboot.
I've already tried a number of solutions:
- Reinstalled GPU drivers multiple times using DDU
- Tested different driver versions (25.9.1, 25.9.2, 25.8.1)
- Conducted stress tests on both the GPU and CPU
- Checked the RAM using MemTest86 and Windows Memory Diagnostic
- Updated the motherboard BIOS twice, currently on the latest version
- Did a clean reinstall of Windows 11
Despite all this, nothing seems to be working. I'm considering rolling back to older drivers to see if that helps. Any tech-savvy folks here have any ideas on what I should try next? I've had a solid 80-hour save on Cyberpunk without issues before this started, and now I can't play anything without it freezing.
3 Answers
Have you checked your SSD or HDD? Sometimes storage issues can cause system freezes. Also, it's worth monitoring your temperatures while gaming. Tools like HWInfo can help you keep an eye on CPU and GPU temps. If they're throttling, that could definitely be the culprit.
Microsoft had a significant server outage recently that affected many users. It's possible that this might have started your issues, especially if you're using gamepass or cloud features. Keep an eye on outage reports on sites like DownDetector for any related issues.
I don’t see how a Microsoft outage could freeze my PC. It seems odd that my gaming would be affected when everything's running independently.
Before making any BIOS changes or tweaking settings, ensure you have backups of your data. BIOS changes can sometimes lead to data loss. If you haven’t already, consider running a thermostat check during your gaming sessions to see if overheating is an issue.
I checked with CrystalDiskInfo and both of my SSDs are healthy (100% and 97% health). My temps during gaming are normal, with the GPU around 50-60°C and CPU around 60-70°C. No throttling problems there.